Right to Try Act

A bill has been filed in Missouri to allow access to medical marijuana throughout the state. House Bill 437 was introduced yesterday by Republican Jim Neely. The initiative would add marijuana to a list of experimental drugs, products and devices that can be prescribed to eligible terminally ill patients under the “Right to Try Act.”

Missourians fighting for their lives don’t have time to wait for the FDA to approve investigational treatments that contain cannabis,” said Neely, a Republican Representative and physician who lost his daughter to stage four cancer in 2015.

Missouri attempted to get medical marijuana on the ballot in November 2016 with an initiative backed by New Approach Missouri. The initiative fell short of making it on the ballot by 23 signatures.

Although Florida voters will be voting on broad legalization of medical marijuana this fall, Governor Rick Scott signed a bill Friday to allow terminally patients access to marijuana.

Scott did not comment on the medical marijuana bill (HB 307), but House sponsor Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, stated on Twitter the governor showed “heart & compassion” by signing the measure.

The Right to Try Act is a law passed in 2015 that allows terminally ill patients to have access to experimental drugs not generally approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. HB 307 expands this law to include medical marijuana.

The legislation proposed that will be on the November ballot would allow patients with several different medical conditions to use full-strength marijuana under the approval of a doctor. Those conditions include cancer, Chron's disease, epilepsy, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Parkinson's disease.

A bill that expands the use of medical marijuana was passed by the Florida House today, March 3.

Rep. Matt Gaetz's bill) HB307 was approved in a 99-16 vote and will add regulations to a bill from two years ago, reports WESH-TV. The vote expands the Right to Try Act, allowing near death patients to use non-smokable forms of cannabis. It also established regulations for dispensaries, patients and physicians covered by the 2014 Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act.

Marijuana products authorized by the bill will be high in cannabidiol (CBD) but low in tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), the ingredient that causes a high.